Mid-Atlantic Section Meeting 2021
Volume 66, Number 18
Friday–Sunday, December 3–5, 2021;
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Session E02: Magnetosphere
2:00 PM–3:36 PM,
Saturday, December 4, 2021
Room: 201B
Chair: Lindsay Goodwin, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Abstract: E02.00002 : Interhemispheric Asymmetries in High-Latitude Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling Processes*
2:36 PM–3:12 PM
Preview Abstract
Abstract
Author:
Hyomin Kim
(New Jersey Institute of Technology)
Given that the polar regions are critical for geospace research, the
interhemispheric conjugacy and asymmetries in the polar regions remain an
area fraught with unknowns and open questions, representing a barrier to
understanding the coupled Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere (MIT)
system. These interhemispheric features may manifest in a number of ways,
including auroral patterns, induced electrical currents, geomagnetic field
geometry, ionospheric electrodynamics, ion-neutral coupling, temperature and
winds in the neutral atmosphere, and more.~ The interhemispheric differences
can be attributed to a number of natural circumstances and various external
drivers that interfere with complex coupling processes of the MIT system and
complicate their signatures significantly. The MIT coupling processes
associated with the energy input from the heliospheric system and the
resulting feedback from the geospace can be misestimated due to the
asymmetry, which has been overlooked. The assumption that the north and
south are mirrored does not address the discrepancy found in observations
and modeling work. We report on interhemispheric observations of geomagnetic
pulsations and ionospheric convection in association with solar wind
transient phenomena. The interaction between the solar wind and the
magnetosphere induces a variety of geospace responses including electric
currents and geomagnetic pulsations. Single-hemispheric observations,
however, do not provide sufficient information on solar
wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling processes and energy transport to the
geospace system. To address this issue, the present study focuses primarily
on interhemispherically asymmetric features in the coupling processes
associated with foreshock transient events by utilizing a ground instrument
network at magnetically conjugate locations in both hemispheres. We
investigate possible external drivers that affect asymmetries (e.g., IMF
orientation, solar irradiance, geomagnetic activity, ionospheric
conductivity, etc.). The spatiotemporal and spectral differences between the
Interhemispheric responses are also reported. ~
*This work was supported by the NASA Living With a Star program under grant 80NSSC21K0132.